Affiliate Marketing/ Commission Model:

The Affiliate Marketing or Commission revenue model is similar to the B2B lead generation model.

However, in this case the affiliate marketer makes money only when the lead converts i.e the lead makes a purchase.

Online travel portals like MakeMyTrip can be cited as examples of online companies working on a commission model – wherein they earn a commission on every successful hotel or flight booking made through their portal.

Aggregator Revenue Model:

The word aggregate means to ‘bring together’.

An aggregator brings together different businesses offering a similar service under a common branding. The aggregator brings under its umbrella branding, only those service providers who can promise a certain defined standard of service quality.

The aggregator business model offers service providers more exposure and customers through a common branding. For the customers, it promises a access to a pool of service providers each offering a standardised service.

The online aggregator makes money by charging commission from the service providers for each qualified conversion.

OyoRooms was often cited as one of the best examples of the aggregator business model. Oyo had tie-ups with various hotels across the country to offer standardized hotel packages to its customers. Note that Oyo rooms have changed their business model in recent years and have ventured into full fledged management of Hotel properties.

Freemium Model:

The Freemium revenue model is an extension of the subscription revenue model wherein internet companies make a basic service available for free to users. However the full range of services are available only to the paying subscribers.

Take the example of cloud storage service DropBox. While the basic service which offers 2GB of storage is available for free, for a larger storage a member has to pay a monthly subscription fees.

Hope you liked our discussion on the revenue models of online companies.